Harmony
by Time Signature
Summary: A collection of song-inspired one-shots. The first one's Contestshipping! "The dark night, lit only by faint streetlights, served to hide the girl he sought. And the night still separated the two, the two that were torn apart."


Harmony

A/N: This will be a collection of shipping one-shots inspired by songs. But they are NOT song-fics. Just wanted to make that clear. (Besides, most of the songs are in Japanese, and I can't incorporate the lyrics, anyway.)

First Melody: Alone Together (Contestshipping)

~oOo~

The girl sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Now what was it about? Putting a hand to her chin, she tried to recall everything that had befallen her.

I'm alone, in a new region.

I don't have Beautifly, because Mom wanted to watch her. I'm glad that Mom liked Beautifly, but she's one of my most trusted partners…

I've been losing at contests, sometimes even dropping out at the appeals!

I'm alone, and I haven't seen anyone I know for a while.

Wait, did I already say that?

May sighed again, gripping her Blaziken's Poke-ball tightly, as she aimlessly swung her legs on a random bench that the Contest arena had prepared. Glancing around her, she saw other coordinators full of energy and whispering last-minute strategies to themselves.

Looking at them made her feel a little better, and she jumped to her feet to practice for the ten minutes or so left before the Contest actually began. Returning the ball to her pouch, she retied her loose bandana firmly. Then she ran out the door, only stopping briefly to tell the worried receptionist that she would be back soon.

That training session helped her regain some confidence, but she still heard a tiny, irking voice that kept whispering, "What if you fail again, what if you fail at the appeals?"

Muffling that, May rushed back into the waiting room. She was lucky that she had not been the first up, for if she had been…well, she would definitely be late, which would drop some points, and even might be disqualified!

After catching her breath, she turned her gaze to the television screen, which was showing…Drew!? She blinked a few times to make sure that she was seeing right. Confirming that it was indeed Drew, she tilted her head to the side to think.

Why didn't I notice him earlier? Why didn't _he_ notice _me_ earlier?

Drew's fans would most likely burst into a rage at the last question, but to her, it was like second nature; it was nothing more odd than wondering if there was a noodle shop nearby.

She shook her head, and turned back to Drew's performance. Right now, he had defeated his opponent with a brilliantly executed Petal Dance courtesy of his Roserade. And gotten a full score.

Which did not do miracles to May's rapidly dimming confidence. Those two shining digits on the screen…when was the last time she had gotten that score? The past few contests, she had had horrible scores.

She sighed again, thinking in the corner of her mind that if she earned a dollar for each sigh, she would be quite rich. Then, hearing her name called, she snapped her head back up and ran to the connecting hallway. She passed by Drew, who was just returning from his performance. Although he seemed as though he wanted to talk to her, the girl only nodded at him once and simply just went past him.

He felt quite hurt at this but maintained his poise. After all, they were rivals on the Contest field, and he could not afford to lose concentration at a trivial matter as being ignored. But in the depths of his heart, he knew that it was not a "trivial matter."

On the other hand, May had stepped up to the stage to start performing, but the fears that she had suppressed chose this moment to resurface. "What if I fail, again?" the voice whispered.

The sea of faces in the audience, which she used to embrace, now felt as though they were glaring at her, staring at her, all filled with malice. Normally, she would not have stage fright, but the events all piling up on each other finally took their toll. Her trembling hand threw the ball at an odd angle, causing Blaziken to wobble for a second before regaining balance. True, it was only a second, but a second too much.

It all went downhill from there. In her muddled state, May ordered Mega Kick, which was no longer in her Pokemon's move-set, then she fell down on the finale…

She didn't even get a 20. That was downright humiliating, and she barely managed to hold in her tears as she dashed back from the stage. Everyone seemed to be staring at her, laughing at her. The world blurred, everything, everything turning to gray, while she stumbled to the exit of the Contest hall.

The girl was about to leave when she felt a hand grip her arm. Whirling around, she found her rival, whom she frankly did _not_ want to see right now.

"Leave me _alone!_" she shrieked, her brown hair whipping across her face when she glared at him, tears filling her glassy sapphire eyes and streaking her cheeks.

He stayed silent for a moment, then opened his mouth to comment, "Well, May, not even a _twenty_ i-"

"Shut up, shut up, _shut up!_" Then she tore her arm away from his loosening grasp and ran, ran away.

The only thing telling that she had ever been there was the fading red bandana floating softly to the ground, evading the shocked boy's hand.

The silhouette, so vividly black against the setting sun even amidst the crowds, grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared, as her last words resonated in his head, like a broken record, smaller and smaller, just like the girl herself, who had _disappeared_. Who had gone away. From him.

Her world was gray.

His world was gray.

The words congratulating him, the thunderous applause, sounded like white noise. The normally shining ribbon looked dull. There was no splash of crimson that he would always search for.

And that moment, he knew what he wanted – no, what he had to do. Find her. He didn't care about his win right now; all he wanted to do was see her. See her. He just wanted to meet her.

The fact that riding his Flygon would help did not register at all in his mind. Away from the confused crowds, away from the worrying MC, he ran. Drew ran, with the sole thought that he _had to find her_.

The dark night, lit only by faint streetlights, served to hide the girl he sought, as he chased after that shadow in his mind, the scarlet shadow that had smiled at him. And the night still separated the two, the two that were torn apart.

His footsteps thudded on the pavement as he ran, ran to find her. And finally, finally he found her, huddled against a lone streetlamp, sniffling weakly. Her Pokemon were not out, and neither were his.

They were alone, but this time, they were alone together.

"May!" he gasped as he stopped in front of her, which caused the girl to look up from the ground.

"Drew…" she murmured, soon turning away from him.

"May, I'm sorry for-," the boy began, but was soon cut off.

"I'm…fine, I really…am," mumbled May in a voice that betrayed her crying. "I'm…fine."

But the tears continued to spill onto the dry ground, no matter how much she scrunched up her eyes.

Hearing those lies, seeing those fallen tears, Drew could not bear it for any longer, and he pulled her up from the ground. Gazing straight into her wavering eyes, he stated,

"I love you, May, and I can't stand to see you hurt."

Her eyes, her face, no, every part of her froze. For one instant, the world seemed as if it was only them, only the space lit by that streetlight.

"D…Drew…" she stuttered, her façade rapidly crumbling. Not just her façade, but everything, everything that she had worked so hard to keep up and keep down.

Those three words, how she longed for them to have never been said! But at the same time, she found a part of her rejoicing at them. The part of her that had longed to say them as well.

But more than that, she saw herself shattering, the girl who had worked so hard to stop everything from changing. For things to stay the way she had wanted them to stay. To stay safe, safe, in that confusing relationship which was just the right distance. Not too far, but not too close, either. He teased her, and she got angry. He threw her a rose, and it was a sign of rivalry.

But that world was shattering, just by those three words. All her other problems seemed so small now, compared to this.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. Her voice failed her. For he had hugged her, _hugged her,_ and whispered, "I love you."

And with those words, the last pieces of her world shattered. Her world _had _changed, no matter how much she tried to deny it.

The tears ran freely down her cheeks as she looked up at the night, lit only by that one streetlight, and shouted.

All those thoughts, all those feelings, all those memories, all of them. All of them, the ones that had reached their time. The ones that had transcended time.

She shouted them, shouted them, in a language that only those two knew.

And then she whispered, "I wanted to meet you."

And he could hear her, because he was right next to her. Because he was with her.

And he whispered, "I wanted to meet you, too."

Although they were true as well, those words were not the ones he had been anticipating, and he expressed that to her by poking her lightly. The girl finally let out a small laugh, the first _real_ one he had seen that day, and took in a deep breath. She let herself out of the boy's arms, facing him confidently (albeit with a rosy blush staining her cheeks), and raised her head.

Smiling, she told him,

"Drew…I love you."

~oOo~

Author's note: As you can (hopefully) tell from reading this, this will NOT be a songfic collection. Just based on songs.

This was based on "Kawaranai Mono" by Oku Hanako, which would be roughly translated to "Things that Never Change." If you have the time, listen to it once! It's really beautiful.

Thanks for reading this, and hope to see you soon!

Oh, and reviews are always welcome.

Time Signature


End file.
